Mac's Poll - Let's Vote

If you're a British expat who has lived outside the UK for at least 15 years, then current legislation denies you the ability to vote in parliamentary elections and referendums.

It's a policy that, suffice to say, has become very controversial given recent events. Long-term expats already feel that their fate was taken out of their hands when they were denied a vote in the EU referendum and this year's General Election, which was an election largely based around Brexit.

The 15-year rule comes from the idea that after someone has lived away from their home country for a long period of time, they lose their connection to it, but this isn't necessarily true. Moving abroad doesn't mean all ties to the home country are cut, and changes in policies may still directly affect an expat's life no matter how long they have been abroad.

Theresa May faces a vote of confidence in her leadership later after 48 of her Conservative MPs called for one to be held.

But a defiant Mrs May vowed to contest the vote "with everything I have got".
She warned that a new prime minister would be faced with the choice of "delaying or even stopping Brexit".

A majority of Tory MPs have publicly said they will back the PM in the vote, which runs for two hours from 18:00 GMT, but it is a secret ballot.

Immediate statements of loyalty for the prime minister were issued by every member of her cabinet, including several who have been touted as possible successors.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Mrs May was "the best person to make sure we actually leave the EU on March 29", while Home Secretary Sajid Javid said a leadership contest would be seen as "self-indulgent and wrong".

So far, 174 Tory MPs have publicly said they will vote for her, with 34 publicly against, according to BBC research. She needs to secure the votes of 158 MPs to survive. Irrespective of what happens today do you think Theresa May should continue as Prime Minister?

With chaos engulfing the Brexit process as MPs on both sides of the debate rebel against the Prime Minister’s negotiated deal, calls have been made for a second referendum.

Apparently, close to half of Britons (47%) believe that Remain would now win in a repeat of the 2016 vote. By contrast, only 29% of people think that Leave would prevail. The remaining 24% don’t know. What do you think? Has our perception changed or has the country actually changed its mind? Who do you think would win today?

A majority of Spaniards believes that there will be a new economic crisis before 2023, according to a survey commissioned by the newspaper EL PAÍS.

A poll by the consulting firm 40dB found that 81.7% of respondents think Spain will experience a new slump within the next five years.

Nearly a fourth of those polled, 23.2%, are certain of it, while 58.5% view it as probable. Broken down by political affinities, Socialist Party (PSOE) voters are somewhat less pessimistic, with 15% expressing certainty that a new crisis is approaching.

There is, however, a nearly unanimous opinion that the political and economic elites have failed to introduce sufficient regulations and mechanisms to prevent such a crisis from taking place. Fully 91.8% of those surveyed defend greater controls on the financial sector and on large companies.

Asked who they believe was chiefly responsible for the crisis, banks and the political class came out on top, followed by the housing bubble, the government, the Bank of Spain, the global financial situation, the so-called Troika (the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission), big business, household debt, the European Union, globalization, and immigration, which came in last: 28.6% of respondents blamed migrants to some degree.

Many respondents were critical of the way the international community dealt with the situation: 43.5% believe the austerity measures were counterproductive and only prolonged the crisis. And 67.2% think that the Troika issued guidelines that only deepened the slump.

The survey was conducted between October 30 and November 7, and asked 2,000 respondents 21 questions about the impact of the economic crisis that began in 2008 and officially ended in 2014.

Asked if they thought Spain has emerged from the crisis, only 0.8% said that there has been a full recovery, while 13.5%said “yes, although not all indicators have improved.” A majority, 53.4%, view it the other way: Spain is still in a crisis, even though some indicators have improved. And 31% said Spain has not emerged in any way.

Spain has been a world leader in transplants and organ donation for many years due to the solidarity of the population and Spanish legislation, which since 1979 treats all people as potential donors unless the person has left a written statement to the respect or families expressly oppose.

In Spain, there is a great consensus regarding organ donation. 82% of Spaniards are willing to donate their organs when they die while only 5% would oppose and 13% would not know what to do. These figures remain stable for all age groups, gender and geographical areas.

The situation changes slightly when asked about donations in life, although the Spaniards continue to enjoy a more than solidary spirit. To the question: Would you be willing to donate some non-vital organ if that would help save someone else's life? The results showed that 81% of the population would be willing to do so, but with a twist: only 42% would do so without conditions, while 39% would do so only for a loved one.

However, the most controversial question asked in the recent study was: Do you think that donating organs once you die should be something mandatory? A high percentage (42%) were against it, while 44% would accept it and 14% would not know what to do.

What do you think? Should organ donations after death be compulsory? Please cast your vote...

For those of you who have lived in Spain of some time will be familiar with one of Spain’s bitterest battles, a long-festering confrontation that predates the national and international skirmishes over paella . The Spanish omelette -Tortilla de patata.

The town council of Betanzos, the Galician municipality whose tortillas de patatas, or Spanish omelettes, are regularly hailed as the finest in the land, has spoken out. And the message to those entering this year’s tortilla competition is simple: forget the onions!

The issue of whether cebollas belong in the emblematic dish runs like a faultline under the nation’s bar stools and dining tables, dividing families and communities and pitting ‘con-cebollistas’ (with-onionists) against ‘sin-cebollistas’ (without-onionists).

Authorities in the town claim they are only staying true to their roots with the competition rules. They want to be faithful to the Betanzos tradition of potatoes, oil, egg and salt - Nothing more, they say…
However, local bars taking part in Tortilla Week but not entering the annual contest are free to deploy onions. “That’s fine on the route but not in the competition,” the council said. “We brought it up with the bar owners and the vast majority of them were behind the idea.”

Alberto García, a local chef who has twice won the prize for Betanzos’s best tortilla, knows his onions – and when to leave them out. His recipe also triumphed in national tortilla competitions in 2011 and 2017.

“When it comes to onion, the cookbooks say a Spanish omelette’s ingredients are egg, potato, olive oil, salt and onion, but to be honest, Betanzos has become famous for its omelettes because of a local woman, Señora Angelita, who cooked them without onion more than a century ago.”

For García, who runs the Mesón O’Pote restaurant in the town, thinks it is all something of a baseless controversy. “I think the council’s just trying to make Betanzos stand out by not including onion,” he said,

“What makes our omelette different and delicious is having properly fried potatoes and really juicy, runny eggs. If it doesn’t have onion, it doesn’t have onion. If it has onion, it has onion. Look, I’m not saying onion is good or bad. But there is a correct way of cooking, cutting and serving tortilla: the egg has to be really, really runny and the potato has to be perfectly golden – properly fried. It doesn’t really matter if it’s got a bit of onion in.”

Does it? What do you think? Do you prefer your Spanish omelette with onions or without onions? Please cast your vote!

Spain's health care system has been ranked the best in Europe and the third-most efficient in the world, beaten only by those of Hong Kong and Singapore respectively.

The annual ranking compiled by Bloomberg covers 56 national health services in total, and Bulgaria sits at the bottom with the USA, where medical treatment availability depends upon patients' insurance covering it, is second from bottom, below Azerbaijan.

Even some countries in the European Union fare very badly in the Bloomberg ranking: perhaps surprisingly, Germany is among the least efficient at number 45 out of 56, having fallen six places from last year and beaten by Kazakhstan and Ecuador, whilst Hungary sits at 42.

Denmark, a nation far ahead of the rest of the world in many aspects including quality of life and employment, and generally among the most modern countries on earth, comes 41st out of 56, climbing one place up from last year and beaten by Venezuela and Iran.

Spain's third-largest political force wants the government to agree to the new law proposal in the next few months, since otherwise it may not be able to come into force until after the next general elections.

According to the text of the motion, any 'use of physical force' which is 'aimed at causing a certain level of pain or at least discomfort, however mild' should be outlawed, and would include 'slapping, punching, smacking, kicking, shaking, scratching, pinching, biting, pulling hair or ears, hitting with a rod or other object, forcing [children] into uncomfortable positions [such as standing in a corner with their hands on their heads for a prolonged period], producing burns, etc'.

Prior to the year 2005, parents or guardians had the right, by law, to use 'reasonable and moderate' physical methods of discipline, but the socialist government led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero – in power from March 2004 until November 2011 – axed this from the Civil Code.

Zapatero was following Council of Europe recommendations which have cited scientific evidence to show smacking and other forms of physical punishment is harmful in the short and long term to children.

The current text in the Civil Code says 'correction' should be conducted 'with full respect for [the child's] physical and psychological integrity' and 'in accordance with his or her personality' – meaning undue harshness should not be used with an overly sensitive child or one of a nervous disposition.

Courts have passed verdicts in this vein, finding parents guilty where corporal punishment was unnecessary, but not convicting them where it was minor and did not cause undue mental harm to the child, such as a tap on the back of the hand to stop him or her touching something.

Podemos wants to extend this, citing research and views from a number of social organisations specialising in child development, and interpreting the text in line with a 'human rights focus'.

Spain's new data protection law will prevent children under 14 years old from using social media without their parents' express consent, a year older than at present.

For the moment, any teenager of 13 years old or more can set up their own accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other media without an adult's consent, but they will have to be at least 14 to do so from the end of this year.

The data protection law is due to be implemented before 2019 in line with a European Union regulation, which gives member States a margin of between 13 and 16 years of age as the minimum for social media use without parental authorisation.

Among the terms of the new law, which Spanish Parliament is working on at the moment, publishing photographs of minors – defined as anyone aged younger than 18 – could be considered a breach of their fundamental rights and therefore a criminal offence.

As yet, the broad scope of this clause has not been revealed.

Fines for failing to comply with the data protection law could be up to €10 million, or 2% of either turnover or profits if the offender is a company, although warnings, smaller fines and other measures will be taken first.

The new legislation will, additionally, allow workers the right to 'switch off' when they are not officially on duty – for example, an employee working a nine-to-five schedule would legally be able to refuse to take a job-related call from the boss or answer emails or calls from customers at six in the evening, or whilst on annual holiday.

It is likely they may be allowed to do so voluntarily, but cannot be disciplined for failing to answer an 'urgent' company email whilst on a beach during their paid leave.

Also, it should not affect workers with flexible hours or 'on call', as long as this is part of their role and agreed between employees and companies.

According to Spain's socialist government, the broad terms of the data protection law have been agreed by all parties in Parliament.

TRAFFIC authorities in Spain are considering making speed-limiting technology obligatory in all newly-manufactured cars in a bid to reduce crash deaths on roads.

Leader of the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), Pere Navarro believes that the system preventing a car from travelling above the speed limit – a device that already exists – could prevent up to 400 fatalities a year by cutting serious accidents by at least 20%.

But whether or not this technology becomes compulsory for new vehicles, Navarro says it is 'probably a good idea' to review and increase the number of speed limit signs, since it is not always clear what the permitted maximum is.

The 'smart-speed' system, according to the DGT boss, was the subject of a research project in Norway in 2014 and found to be the 'most efficient' at saving lives.

In fact, it could be the 'most important feature, after the air-bag' at doing so, Navarro believes.

He says road crash deaths have been steadily climbing in Spain for the last four years, and reveals that 77% of fatalities happen on secondary highways rather than motorways.

Of all deaths recorded, 36% are caused by the car veering off the road and 28% by head-on smashes – and even where the proximate cause of these are alcohol, drugs, fatigue or distraction, the speed of the vehicles involved makes a difference as to the outcome.

“The faster the cars are travelling, the worse the accident tends to be,” Navarro points out.

These observations were made during the MAPFRE Foundation's latest road safety conference, jointly organised by the European Council for Transport Safety and the DGT.

Head of Accident Prevention and Road Safety at high-street insurance company MAPFRE, Jesús Monclús says the 'smart-speed' system reads the limit signs on roads and adjusts the car's speed accordingly if it is travelling faster than this, as well as preventing the vehicle from getting too close to the one in front – even activating the brake if necessary.